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Date: Thursday 29th September

Now that I've identified my strengths as an artist, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to make a hook for my project.

Date: Sunday 2nd October

After taking note of my strengths, I’ve written myself a hook that I’m proud of.

The Meaning:

Is to express how it can feel when it comes to dealing with life’s obstacles. I tend to feel like no matter how hard I try to tell people i'm not okay, they never seem to understand me on the level I'd like them to.

It’s a song to help accept the fact that sometimes I have to take care of the problem myself without anybody noticing my low points, because it's natural to have a side to my personality that nobody sees. And that my independence is needed in order to fully get over an obstacle; because with patience I'll get to where I want to be.

Although every day may feel the same, refusing to give up on making a change is the better option. Doing something about it is better than sitting with the problem itself.

With financial wealth, I think that although money can’t take away all of my problems; treating myself within moderation can give me a sense of accomplishment.

With love, I feel if somebody really loves me in the way they say they do, they’ll show me through action. And if I feel that way about someone but they don’t reciprocate the same feelings; moving on is the best way to deal with it instead of caring. I can’t change another person.

In conclusion, that’s why I think the perfect title for this song would be “Blame”. The title is meant to express that although things are going wrong, I can’t put all the fault on my shoulders; some things are going to be out of my control along the way.

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Date: Saturday 8th October

I like to see the verses of my songs as a collection of emotions that help to explain the meaning of the hook, as I like my songs to be focused theme wise and topic wise. So before I begin writing one for this project, I want to make sure I know what theme and topic I’m going for.

Date: Monday 10th October

Using my chosen themes to help shape my song writing, I’ve finished the first verse.

The Meaning:

This verse summarises what I'm dealing with, personal problems. I touch on how distracting myself with something I enjoy can help me forget about them when things begin to feel like too much. After mentioning that coping mechanism, I refer to what I'm using it for the most right now; and that's getting over the time that I had recently spent with someone else who's not around anymore. I don't like hearing their name, because it brings back bad memories.

Having all the care I can for someone is a weakness of mine, since people use it to their advantage; and try to gain something out of my kindness. But despite that, I go against that statement in the next line, and say that no matter how many times it occurs; by nature I remain the same.

This makes me feel lost, as if I'm constantly standing in the same place at all times. Because if there's been no emotional change, how can I feel like I've learnt from my mistakes?

That's why I’ve made this song, to also remind myself that my nature is something I should be proud of; because remaining true to my ways will help me surround myself around the right people and make me happier.

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Date: Thursday 22nd September

For my project, I’ve decided to create my own song from scratch using my songwriting and rapping skills. The reason why I’ve chosen to do this is because I believe that it will be more of a challenge to create a song of my own instead of do a cover of somebody else’s. Moreover, the project itself will be as true to my identity as possible; as I will have song written and vocalised it myself.

The Strengths I Can Use:

To start off, I’m going to listen to all of the songs that I have written so far to identify where my strengths lie as an artist. And with this information, I’ll compile it together to reach a conclusion for what direction I want to take with this project.

Date: Friday 23rd September

Strengths:

My Writing Is Honest: There was one fact that remained consistent throughout all of my songs prior to now, and that fact was that I always wrote about my true emotions. With every song that i've made, it's clear that I want to make sure that this trait always remains present within my craft.

I Have Versatility: When it comes to my music, I mix singing and rapping together; in order to create melodic rap. This already shows that I’m not just strong in one aspect of my vocals, but in two.

Clarity And Diction: Due to practicing my rapping with other artist’s material, I’ve developed the ability to speak very quickly. This is imperative to keep note of whilst writing this project, as I need to make sure whatever i'm writing doesn't cause me to overestimate my clarity and diction skills.

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Date: Monday 17th October

Now that I have finished the song writing process of my project, it’s time to find a beat that goes hand in hand with the lyrics i’m going to be delivering. The audio below showcases the beat I decided on.

Why did I choose this beat?

I chose this beat because it’s main quality is how uplifting it is. Although “Blame”, has some emotive lyrics that could suit a more somber sound; the overall message of my words is positive. I’m encouraging myself to accept my imperfections and strive to do better, instead of choosing to not hold remorse for myself when I do something wrong.

The subtle twang of the bass in the beginning sets the Jazzy tone for the piece, and it gives me a warm feeling to sink into before the drums kick in. The extended intro before they do, never fails to give me a sense of anticipation; even though I already know what’s going to happen next.

Once I hear them drop, the heavy kick of them travel through me and make me feel a sense of calmness i’ve never felt before. The atmosphere the beat creates is so laid back, and I wanted that to be the case so that although the lyrics are heartfelt; the viewer doesn’t feel any pressure to take everything in word by word from a melancholy beat. They can also have the choice of enjoying the warm energy it creates as well.

In conclusion, this beat selection sums me up as an artist stylistically; i’m someone who always tries to see the positive in things. Even within the most negative situations, where I could choose to overwhelm myself with one heavy emotion; I turn that sadness into motivation and make something that pushes me to move forward instead.

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Diary Entry Five:

Date: Monday 24th October

Plan For Project (Recording Stage):

Now that everything is in place, it's now time to plan out how i'm going to record my vocals, how i'm going to sound engineer them; and where i'm going to do my live performance.

In terms of the vocals, I’ve worked out the melodies on my own. The only thing I’m going to be collaborating with someone on is the sound engineering for my vocals. I’d prefer this because with the music that I’ve done in the past, I haven’t collaborated with anyone. To put it simply, I like to perceive my songs as personal to me.

I have a mic to record my vocals, along with audacity to create vocal recordings. I also have my producer to sound engineer my songs.

For the live recording, I’ve decided that i’m going to use the venue; with the backing track playing through the speakers.

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Date: Tuesday 1st November

Before I start recording the hook, I need to find a melody that I'm happy with; that goes well with the backing track. And in order to find out what melody works best, I'll create two different melodies and record one take from each of them to show as an example.

Below are the two contrasting melodies, the take I chose to use for the project; and what that take sounds like with a vocal chain attached.

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Monday 5th December

I'm going to be reflecting on my entire development process, in order to go into depth about the reasoning for my creative choices.

The reason that I chose to do an original piece of work, was so that I can create something that is worthwhile; not something that is fleeting. I thought to myself that if I had the ability to create my own piece of music by combining my song writing and melodic rapping skills; then I should use it. I didn't want to waste my capabilities.

My contribution to my project, was that I wrote the piece myself, worked out the melodies myself, performed the piece myself and chose the backing track myself. I independently recorded all of my vocals as well with my own equipment. The only aspect of the creative process that I got help with, was the production of the piece. As shown in my week nine diary entry, my producer was the one to mix my vocals, and master the piece as a whole as well. Everything production related, was his part within the making of this project.

There was definitely a lesson that I learned by being pushed to structure my creative process; which I never would have expected. Normally, my creative process is more erratic and depends heavily on where my sense of investment stands towards my music. So to do the opposite by consistently documenting my journey, opened me up to the fact that adding structure to my journey can come to give me a whole new look on my craft; that I never would have seen without any.

Structuring my process forced me to uncover the deeper meaning of my song-writing, the intentions for why I chose to go certain directions with my vocals, and the reasoning for why I chose the backing track that I did.

Delving into the meaning of my lyrics has always been something that i've done, and that's why my writing has never failed to come across as honest. But because of my ambition to create a solo project, the only thing I could write about was my thought process when it came to writing my song. So naturally,  I exceeded my own expectations with how insightful and genuine my emotions actually were. Exposing the words I would have left in my mind before by putting them onto the page, made me feel more connected to my lyrics than normal. And after finishing the project, listening to it was so much more impactful due to connecting with my inner thoughts.

Because of how well this worked for me, I'm going to be adopting this element towards my future works and assignments.

Taking the time to film my vocal takes to provide evidence for my efforts made me realise how much more I can do expression wise when it comes to my music. I feel that when I sing, I don't have anywhere near as much emotion on my face compared to when I rap. This made me conscious of a weakness within my career as a young perfomer, and has encouraged me to purposely record myself every time that I sing. By consistently doing this, this will help me to remember the mistake so much to a point that I make sure to never make it again.  A performer with expression and charisma is imperative, as it will keep your audience engaged and cause them to react off of your emotions.

Having to ask myself why I chose the backing track for a project isn't something I thought i'd ever have to go into detail about; because the reason I normally give for picking one is because I like the sound of it. So out of the three, this aspect of the development diary was the most difficult for me to describe. So instead, I used how the beat makes me feel emotively in oder to describe why I specifically chose it.

One of the weaknesses I currently have that made this topic the most difficult for me to document, was the fact that I don't know enough about music production to explain in depth the reasoning for why I chose the backing track that I did. So when given the task to talk about what I enjoyed about it, it was very hard for me to figure out what to say and put my words together. Pushing myself to do this in order to give as much insight into my thought process as possible; exposed me to a weakness that will hold me back in the future. This turned out to be a positive, as taking care of the weaknesses now is better than taking care of them later.

To conclude, I feel that because I decided to do a solo project, instead of join with a group of people and work together on one; it forced me to show independence and opened up to me the areas where i'm to co-dependent. Seeing my weaknesses would make me feel overwhelmed, despite doing my best to try and fix them. Even though creating a song a long with my producer is something I'd done before, because of the structuring aspect of things; I felt a lot more on edge throughout. It was difficult to find content to talk about, as all I had was my self development; which wasn't something I was accustomed to going into depth about.

But despite that, I'm happy that documenting my process was as difficult as it was; because that's how I know I've grown from the creative experience. As an artist, I need to learn how to be as independent as possible within all areas of the industry; so i'm thankful for this process because it taught me lessons that I can use to get closer to that goal. I'm proud of what I've managed to create, and using the skills that I have learnt through making this project; I'm confident that I can come closer to the artist that I want to grow into.

influences my decision making whilst singing and rapping my music

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Date: Wednesday 9th November

Recording the first verse is going to be an easier task than recording the hook, as I feel that the hook will create the ongoing sound for my project. Because of that, i’m going to use the melody of the hook as my main focus for the verse; and then incorporate new melodies using that foundation.

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Date: Tuesday 15th November

With the track finished, i've decided to ask my producer to go over how he sound engineered, mixed and mastered my project.

Speeding up the beat was done for me, so that my clarity and diction could be delivered at the pace I wanted it to e delivered at. Another detail to add was that we lowered the beat an octave, in order for the beat to fit my voice's capabilities.

My producer putting in the noise suppression really helped the vocals pop out more, as my voice became more distinct without the sounds in the background overlapping with my audio.

The autotune helped fix the minor inconsistencies that came to be present within my vocals, which made my voice sound smoother in structure when going from note to note.

Whilst recording, it's easy to move my head around a lot because I start to move with the music. However, this causes some problems in some areas; because sometimes i'll end up moving too close to the mic causing the volume of my vocals to suddenly heighten.

Because we liked the sound of the saturation on my vocals, we decided to use the fresh air plug in to add in even more. On top of that, we added extra vocal compression in order to make sure the sound of my vocals was the same throughout.

And finally, the beat cuts were an idea I came up with, in order to further contrast the last hook of the song to the linear first one. I believe that the final hook is the most memorable part of the song.

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Date: Thursday 24th November

Now that I’ve finished my studio recording for Blame, I started my practice for my live performance by booking in a rehearsal today at the venue.

To seek improvement, I’ve compiled two key bits of criticism in order to become conscious of where in my performance skills I could be better.

I’m too stiff: In my performance, my body is too stiff; and I don’t seem comfortable performing my own piece. The reason why this is a problem is not only because of how it looks, but also because I actually am confident within my piece. I just don’t own it enough.

I think a word of advice that can help me here, is that I should focus on the lyrics;  and let the lyrics take me where I want to go. Instead of worrying about what I should be doing and what I shouldn’t be doing on stage, I should let the emotions I’ve wrote down dictate how I perform my piece. On stage, all I have is myself.

I need to look excited: Despite the fact that this is my piece, my expression seems to be so monotone. This is imperative to prevent from happening, because if you don’t look happy performing on stage; the crowd will feed off of that energy and not look happy either. Regardless of the outcome, it’s always better to show charisma whilst on stage. I believe that it’s there, I just need to train myself to become more used to performing on stage. Which is why for next week, i’ve booked in a rehearsal session at Brighton Electric

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Before the creation process, I already had an idea of what key I wanted to sing in, and the flow pattern was something I decided to keep reminiscent to the original one; that I had come up with when I first wrote the hook.

However, instead of keeping my voice at a steady range; I chose to try and push my limits and see how high I could go.  I wanted to do this, because I knew that if I could pull it off; it would add more depth to my voice due to the heightened versatility in note changes.

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From the practice take, In my opinion it looks like keeping my voice in a similar area to where it was in the hook works well; and how cohesively it flows is effective.

I think the fact that I consistently stay on one note, makes it closer to my normal speaking voice. And the way i’ve written out my lyrics holds a lot of structure. With all of these factors together, to me it feels as if i’m talking to the listener.

I believe that in the areas I chose to go higher with my voice sounded well thought out; as they were in spots where the words i’m saying need emphasis; because they hold a lot of meaning.

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This time, I decided to stay within my comfort zone and keep my voice at a steady range; still making changes but keeping them as minor ones. I once again kept the flow pattern the same and put that idea together with this new melody to see how it worked out.

I concluded that this gave my voice a more pleasant sound, as before although my voice was hitting high notes; they weren’t be able to be placed within positions where they would have an impact. The changes in note felt unnatural, and I instead wanted my voice to be easy on the ear.

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After sending the hook over to my producer, we were able to create the first demo recording of my project!

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Another small detail that i’m going to add are some extra backing vocals for the final hook of the project. This is so that the last hook isn’t the same as the first one, which will give people something to look forward to later on in the song.

These backing vocals can also add to the live performance of my project, as I can use them to create excitement onstage.

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This is what the finished vocal for the verse sound like on the project.

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Another small detail that i’m adding is some extra backing vocals for the final hook of the project. This is so that the last hook isn’t the same as the first one, which will give people something to look forward to later on in the song.

These backing vocals can also add to the live performance of my project, as I can use them to create excitement onstage.

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RESEARCH TASK, HOW TO BE A BETTER PERFORMER

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RESEARCH TASK, HOW TO BE A BETTER PERFORMER

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There's nothing more embarrassing than performing on stage and feeling bad about yourself at the same time. Every time you step onto the stage you put yourself out there for the world to see. You never know who's watching, and you never know how much power they'll come to have in the music industry.

The first piece of advice is to be confident with yourself and not mess up your lyrics; this is one of the most unacceptable traits within the music industry and far too many do it. If a performance goes wrong, you should never stop it; instead you should perform through it regardless of the outcome.

It's important that you remember to go on stage with a full focus in mind. To perform. Going onto stage with a mentality that says "we'll see how this goes", will only set you up for disaster. The best thing to do, is rehearse on your own time. Even when you may not want to.

When you rehearse, don't just repeat the same thing over and over again. Instead, envision how you'd want to perform; and every single practice you put that thought at the front of your mind. This encourages you to envision your goals, and not just see them.

It's also imperative that you practice what you're going to say in between each song. A performer that's able to exude confidence and have a conversation with their audience will surround them with more attention than the average performer that didn't think this part through. (Herstand, A. 2012)

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Often there seems to be a misconception about confidence, and a lot of people believe that it's a factor that we cant change. But the good news is, is that it can be changed. Often people measure their confidence on how much compliments they get for their music, but in reality this is a warped mindset to live with.

The truth of it all is, is that a lot of artists have problems with confidence on a day to day basis. There's so many musicians out there that can't stand performing on stage, and how well media do to hide it is something to be aware of.

The key to boosting your confidence, is improving your self talk. Self talk is the voice we tend to speak with in our minds, that tell us all sorts of doubts and negative beliefs to try and whittle us down. The only reason they are so negative though, is because your negative emotions feed that self talk. The more negative you think, the more of a pessimist you'll be when it comes to your self talk.

Another thing to help get a grasp on this, is that your sub-conscious is always listening. Your sub-conscious will always agree with the most consistent messages that you feed it, whether they're true or not.  So instead of feeding your sub-conscious with negative messages; instead do the polar opposite to fight for the differences. With time, this will become easier the more you do it. However, the important part is to stay consistent (Kageyma, N. n.d)

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There are hundreds of ways for musicians to grow as performers, but many of them tend to be overlooked because of how overwhelming the music industry can be when it comes to performance.

Growth often happens from seeking out new knowledge or trying out a different technique. Making progress in the performing also depends on how willing you are to broaden your perspective and be adventurous with things.

Watching performances from a wide range of artists in order to  see the versatility is a very effective way of exploring your art. And due to our modern streaming technology, finding music ranging from modern to classic has been made incredibly easy. By absorbing diverse work, artists can encounter fresh approaches that they've never taken before, by learning about the various styles and also appreciating the talent.

It's important to leave your comfort zone the more scared that you are. We as performers can triumph in the face of fear, and sometimes we can find that the more fearful we are; the better our performances come to be. This is because of the adrenaline within us being put at an all time high. The key to countering the fear is to catch it by surprise by doing that something you thought was too difficult to do. Overcoming our fear as performers can lead us to new insights, new skills, and even newfound passion for the art we surround ourselves with.

The passion is the most important thing as a performer, because if you don't show that whilst you're on stage; how can you expect people to respect your art? (Howard, M. 2021)

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Herstand, A. (2012) How To Be A Better Performer, How To Be A Better Performer - Ari's Take. Available at: https://aristake.com/how-to-be-a-better-performer/ (Accessed: November 1, 2022).

Kageyama, N. (no date) How to Become a More Confident Performer. Available at: https://bulletproofmusician.com/how-to-become-a-more-confident-performer/ (Accessed: November 9, 2022).

Howard, M. (2021) Tips to Grow as a Performer, Tips to Grow as a Performer | GCU Blog. Available at: https://www.gcu.edu/blog/performing-arts-digital-arts/tips-grow-performer (Accessed: November 15, 202AD).

Higginbotham, D. (2022) 7 skills you need to succeed in performing arts, 7 skills you need to succeed in performing arts | Prospects.ac.uk. Available at: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors/creative-arts-and-design/7-skills-you-need-to-succeed-in-performing-arts (Accessed: November 24, 2022).

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In order to get your head around the performing arts, it's important to understand the number one quality needed for it. The number one quality needed for performance; is confidence.

But what do we use that confidence for? It's great to be able to perform on stage and put on a show for your audience, but sometimes you might be missing something.

Marketing yourself as a performer is going to be an every day activity you will be indulging in if you wish to become a full time performer. Most singers, dancers, and actors are all self-employed and put various mechanisms in place in order to heighten their exposure.

The main connections to make are industry connections, making as many of those as possible will give you a huge advantage in the world of performance. There are so many opportunities out there to take advantage of, but so many aspiring artists nowadays seem to constantly overlook them.

Joining professional associations, attending industry events, signing up for classes within your performance field of interest, workshops, and short courses that will guarantee you run into all of the right people. Your passion will grow from being surrounded by people with the same love for performance, and these individuals will push you to do better.

Connections are a key factor to making it as a performer, and someone with no talent but good marketing skills, compared to someone with great talent but bad marketing skills; the person with no talent will always win. Marketing is crucial. (Higginbotham, D. 2022)